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# billy

«billy» in Mova's school dictionary: **A metal can with a lid and handle, used to boil water or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a billy, billies)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (Australia, New Zealand) A metal can with a lid and handle, used to boil water or make tea over a campfire; also a billycan. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/#m1)

2) A billy goat: a male goat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/#m2)

3) (US) A billy club: a short wooden stick carried by police. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/#m3)

4) Short for the name William (Billy). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

Australian songs and stories: "Waltzing Matilda" has a swagman waiting while his billy boils. Farm stories: billy goats. Fairy tales: The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Phrases: boil the billy, billy tea, billy goat.

### examples

- We boiled the billy and made tea at the camp. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/#x1)
- The billy goat butted the fence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/#x2)
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff crossed the bridge. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/#x3)
- The swagman waited till his billy boiled. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/#x4)
- Billy is my best friend's name. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/#x5)
- A female goat is a nanny goat; a male is a billy goat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/#x6)

### note

Male goat = billy, female = nanny, young = kid. With a capital B it is a name. "Silly billy" is a gentle, playful way to call someone silly.

### In the corpora

- [A horse named Old Billy was reported to have lived to 62 in England in the 1800s.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/350-farm-animals-by-numbers-stomachs-hooves-toes-eggs-and-litres/18/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «billy» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/billy/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.